New Chickens....What I should do to make sure they are clean & healthy

[IndigoJaguar]

I have a flock of seven one year old hens. Today I got four Salmon Faverolles...one rooster and three hens, the same age as my flock. Question is what are some things I should do while I quarantine them to make sure they are healthy? I have never wormed my current birds. I give them high quality feed with probios and DE some. I sprinkle DE in the house. Other than that I have no idea what to do. Should I worm? Dust with DE? Feed ACV? ALSO...my new rooster has raw red spots on his legs. Does this mean he has mites? The hens do not have those spots. If it is scaly leg mite, how do I treat it? They were all in the same pen together where I got them from.
What should I watch for??

 

[teach1rusl]

I'd give them a good overall exam, checking their skin closely for lice or mites, especially under the wings and around the vent area. Assuming no lice or mites, personally I wouldn't dust. But I don't believe in treating for an "illness" that I haven't seen yet with my birds. I'm not going to worm unless I'm seeing symptoms of worms. I've never treated my girls for lice/mites, because I've never found lice/mites on them when I check them over. I've never wormed because I've never seen anything that would give me cause to.

Scaly leg mites will show up as really loose leg/feet scales. If they've had them for quite a while, the feet will actually start to look kind of knobby and deformed. Not sure about the red, bare patches. Scaley leg mites can be treated by coating the legs/feet in anything that can smother the mites, such as vaseline/pet. jelly. If they're bad, I'd soak them in warm water and lightly brush with a soft toothbrush every other day for several treatments. The coating is daily.

And of course keep them apart from your original birds for a few weeks, in case of disease.